BIG NEWS!
by Mugen7
Summary: Nothing like a shock to the system to throw one further off their rhythm. [Blue Compendium].
1. Part I

**BIG NEWS!**

**Written by Mugen7**

* * *

The signs were all there.

"How's your headache?"

Tired eyes rolled heavily his way.

"Better... Thanks..." Kokonoe slumped into her seat on the couch. She hadn't been feeling like herself lately. When she got the gnawing sense that life wasn't working out in her favour, the cat-woman over-exaggerated her 'low HP' and shitty state with a list of ailments, chronically expressing a need for 'healing and buffs'. Having felt so awfully grotty for what seemed like an eternity, Kokonoe was of the firm belief that she wasn't long for the world, soon to be knocking on Heaven's door.

_So melodramatic_, it took something serious to break the woman's composure; for the 'machine' to grow unstable. Fortunately, Ragna knew precisely what the cause was. To reiterate, the signs were all there. "You really don't know, do you?" He asked, rather perplexed by the hybrid's lack of awareness.

Triggered, Kokonoe shot Ragna a wide-eyed dirty look which doubled as maniacal with how red her eyes appeared.

"What...!? _What_ do you expect me to know!?"

Ragna posed a similar question to her once before, thinking she would've clocked on by now. But Kokonoe remained oblivious.

"Instead of leaving me hanging like a spider with no fly, how about you quit dicking around and spell it out for me!"

He couldn't help but laugh at the irony. Usually he was the one getting annoyed with not getting a straightforward response.

"Don't make me hit you!"

He wouldn't hold the choleric behaviour against her. She may have a bad temperament at times (currently far worse than usual) but not everyone could empathize with the weight of what she was experiencing, nor how much more mercurial she was going to get further down the line.

"Kokonoe," the bone-tiredness, rise in temperature, and her already heightened sensitivity to smells increased further; palate swap (one thing he figured would've been a dead giveaway, at least) and tenderness, alongside the frequent pissing, nausea and vomiting, and contrary to how horrible she might look, there was a certain glow about her that seemed about ready to kick in early. "You're pregnant."

"...!"

"... Kokonoe?" He called her name, but the hybrid didn't respond. She was paralysed; shocked into silence and unblinking. Ragna was keen to joke about how 'Kokonoe-exe has stopped working', but chose instead to terminate that proceeding. "'Kay."

He picked up a magazine and made himself comfortable, flicking through the pages.

"Whenever you're ready."

"..."

This would take a while.


	2. Interlude

**Interlude**

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_**BB Randoms #001**_

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**Konoe: **I'm not gonna talk for long because I have to pee. Again! 'Cause I have to pee every six minutes 'cause I have a beach... _ball_ in my stomach that's punching on my bladder.

**Terumi (laughing): **That sucks.

**Konoe: **I know... And I'm never not hungry.

**Trinity: **Oh, well have some cheese.

**Konoe:** I CAN'T HAVE CHEESE, Trinity! And I can't have wine either. I can't have anything _good_! You know what I _can_ have? Is _liquefied_ _flaxseed_.

**Hakumen (nodding w/headphones on): **...

**Konoe:** But I don't want that. You know what I want? ... Pork rinds... I want jelly beans. And I want a _huge_ trash bag filled with mashed potatoes! I wanna be Pac-Man, and instead of dots, I want 'em to be _cinnamon buns_. I wanna be a GIANT HEAD, AND A MOUTH, AND I JUST WANNA EAT ROWS AND ROWS OF JUNK FOOD PELLETS AND _WHERE IS MY TRASH BAG OF POTATOOOOOOOE__S_! _Huuurrrrrgh_!

...

**Celica:** Time...

**Terumi:** Yikes...

* * *

_**\- ref: Parks & Recreation; season 06, episode 12.**_


	3. Part II

_**BB Randoms #002**_

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**Ragna: **Wow, Kokonoe! The house is so clean!

**Kokonoe (smug grin):** Why, thank you.

**Lambda:** Was the Internet down?

**Kokonoe:** ...

* * *

**_\- ref: Internet._**

* * *

**Part II**

* * *

"_I don't care what people think. I live by my own code... I've never done anything I regret, and I don't intend to in the future_." Ragna read, humming a tune of agreement. "Words to live by."

He flicked through the pages of the softcover briskly, eyes scanning over every bit of its contents, his pace slowing only to hone in on whatever struck his fancy most.

"40% off on _Part 4 – volume 3_! _Great_!"

He wasn't much of a reader in the past. It'd be no use recommending a range of books to him then talk enthusiastically about another. Unless he himself personally found something of interest, then he wouldn't jump.

"Hmm. Not bad. Although the lower power levels were much simpler times, I gotta admit."

But things changed. It all started to become an essential part of his lifestyle. And that was good.

"More demons..."

Doing so exercised his mind, kept him creative, and, overall, it felt relaxing to do so. Surprisingly.

"Defeat 12 _God Candidates_ in 999 days...? Well, alright then."

He came to own a number of books over time. Though his collection was anything but 'Big!', the titles he did own, to him, had all been memorable reads; you know you've read a good book when you turn the last page and it feels as though you've said goodbye to a dear friend.

"So after all these years it finally comes to an end..." his smile was a sad one, yet one that also held a great deal of fondness to it. "Gonna miss these idiots."

He was no stranger to Japanese comics and other literary works of similar fashion. Much of his know-how was owed in no small part to Kokonoe's consumption of the wide collection, but Ragna soon picked up his own share of volumes here and there over time.

"Hyuuu." Finished, Ragna sets the magazine aside, redrawing his focus to the two-tailed woman whose frame of mind had yet to change since learning that she was expecting.

"..."

Kokonoe was rarely made speechless. It was a challenge to have her taken by surprise, but this level of silence was in a league of its own.

"You need somethin'? Some water, perhaps?" He offered, finally getting a response.

"N-No..." Kokonoe answered, barely able to talk. "I'm good."

Ragna took her hand into his own and gave it a squeeze, hoping to set her mind at ease, if just a little. "No pressure, alright?"

She was quiet again.

"I know we didn't exactly plan for this, but..." he groaned, feeling a bit concerned. "Look, it's your body. So naturally the decision is yours to make."

She began to nod. Slowly. Making a weird face.

"Yeah. Um..." she was in a daze, coming to terms with the reveal still. "I'm just... I don't... know...! I mean I don't understand how this happened!?" Kokonoe pulled away from him and moved off the couch. Ragna let her have her space. "We used a condom...! _Y__ou_ used a condom!"

Ragna scratched his head. At first, he was at a bit of a loss once learning Kokonoe had a baby on the way. But he wasn't naive. One fun and _very_ passionate night is all it could take to guarantee the seeds would be sown in.

_We were both in the seventh heaven that night_, he recalled, lost on a quick roundtrip. "I know. But condoms only work, like, 97, 98% of the time."

She was weak in the knees. "Wh-Wh-What!?"

He'd very much like to laugh at the priceless look on her face, but Ragna had the gut feeling she was about to explode, and he did not want to make her outburst any worse.

"WHAT!?" Kokonoe bellowed incredulously. "Well they should put that on the box!"

Ragna watched her like a deer in the headlights, just managing to speak after a pregnant pause. "They do."

"No they don't!" Kokonoe dashed out of the room, and as quickly as she'd left, she stormed right back in with a box.

"WELL THEY SHOULD PUT IT IN _HUGE BLACK LETTERS_!"

Ragna groaned and massaged his temples, wishing to steer away from the conversation. "Look, Kokonoe. Just forget about it for now."

"Oh! Well I might as WELL HAVE!"

He took one careful step towards her. "Listen, I know you're freaked out."

"Fre-! Oh, no no no! Nuh-uh!" Kokonoe waved him off with a sharp, crooked smile. "I'm not freaked out. I'm _indignant_! As _you should be_!"

Ragna tried to end the subject. "I think we'd better continue this chat later."

But to no avail. "No, no! I wanna talk about it now!" the cat-woman ranted, leaving no room for argument. "In fact..."

Ragna stood by as Kokonoe whipped out a phone and called a number.

"Who are you call-"

"LITCHI YOU BUOYANCY AID BITCH! YOU GOT ME PREGNANT!"

"... Well I'm leavin'," seizing the opportunity, Ragna left the disarrayed cat-woman to roar at the Asian woman on the other end of the line. "Talk to ya later, Koko."

He moseyed on out of their home, hoping to find something he could immerse himself in for hours.

"Like hell I'm gonna stick around for that drama," said Ragna, still hearing the hybrid yell. "Jeez."

Kokonoe wouldn't be tame for quite some time.

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**Fin**

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_**Mugen7:** Think the origin for this two-part entry on a whole now speaks for itself._


End file.
